03-19-2019 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, March 11, 2019 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 2 of 16 Kempf noted he attended the Fire Hall meeting regarding the rebuild of County Roads 15 and 19, and that one thing that was discussed was the Culver’s corner of that intersection, which is on the northeast corner of the intersection of those two roads. The County’s right-of-way veers away from the intersection and there is actually a large piece of property that lies within the County’s domain. Kempf stated he proposed that it would be good if there was something that can be implemented to alert the string of ca rs that come from 394 on their way home through Navarre that something has changed in the inters ection that would invite the bike traffic to stop and have pedestrians be able to stop. Kempf stated he would like to see something that invites pedestrians and bikers to congregate at that corner and that he suggested to Hennepin County’s representative that they consider putting a semi-circular stone bench and a paved patio area in that corner of the intersection, which would give the statement that this is a pedestrian zone. The Hennepin County representative s eemed receptive to that. Walsh noted he was in attendance at that same meeting and that he e ncouraged Hennepin County to come before the City Council with all the feedback they have received and Hennepin County’s response to it. The representative was encouraged to contact Adam Edwards to get on the agenda. Crosby stated Hennepin County had some good ideas about slowing traffic down in that area as well. PUBLIC WORKS/CITY ENGINEER REPORT 10. WATER METER REPLACEMENT Edwards reported the City received three proposals from three separate companies to replace the water meters. The RFP review occurred concurrently with revisions to the water rate study. During the process, Staff concluded that an alternate meter replacement plan over an eight-year time frame would be more advantageous to the City. Changing out the meters over a longer time frame minimizes the water rate increases and allows the City to maximize use of those meters that still have reasonable life left in them. As a result, at this time Staff recommends the City Council reject the bids and direct Staff to negotia te an alternate meter change-out plan. Johnson asked if Staff is concerned about the maintenance issues associated with the batteries by extending the replacement by a couple of years . Edwards stated the concern with the battery life is what started this process and that the City does have a number of batteries that are reaching the 15-year mark. The last time the replacement was done occurred over a 5-year period of time. Even if the replacement started today, the City would still have some meters tha t would be replaced at seven to ten years. Walsh stated there are a number of meters that still have a few years of useful life yet and that the City is attempting to get the biggest bang for its buck by spreading out the replacement over a longer period of time . As a result, the City does not need to do them all at once and that they can do it when they functionally need to do it. Printup moved, Seals seconded, to reject all bids for the meter change -out and direct Staff to pursue the revised meter replacement plan. VOTE: Ayes 5, Nays 0.